Kamp Katrina (2007 Video) User Reviews

Sordid

[irish23 · 2/10 · 19 February 2011]

While this documentary meets the minimum requirements for technical prowess, the film itself is difficult to watch. I couldn't finish it -- made it through about the first hour.

The action starts with Ms Pearl opening up her backyard to victims of Katrina. This generous and positive beginning quickly devolves into sordid episodes of alcoholism and abuse. The cruelty and degradation shown on-screen is understandable given the situation, but it was very difficult to watch. I couldn't help but feel I was intruding on very personal life stories.

Were the documentarians exploiting people's suffering in the name of journalism? I tend to lean that way. Of course, they couldn't know how it would turn out, but I think there comes a time when human decency calls for the camera to be shut off and the crew to go home.

Kamp Katrina or "Kat 5" Were Known As Bad Rescuers

[ice-22075 · 1/10 · 4 December 2019]

Kamp Katrina or Kat 5 rouge rescuers Were the misfit rescuers that were kicked out of all other rescue units after Hurricane Katrina made landfall.

Kat 5 Rescuers would go into peoples homes Remove their pets and throw the animals collars down. Kat 5 rescuers raided drugstores and people's homes and at night they used excessive drugs stolen from the drug stores. My rescue crew of seven left soon after we arrived and did not want to be part of the Kat 5 rescue group and were appalled at the way animals were housed at the Kat 5 location.

Life can be tremendously hard

[midmarkwest · 10/10 · 18 March 2012]

This is a film about struggle. It's a tale about generosity attempting to scale a mountain of adversity. Yes, sometimes it's difficult to see the reality of tragedy. But life cannot always be a complete story arc, with a tidy beginning, middle and end. There is not always a compelling denouement with uplifting music to tell you as the credits roll that all is right in the world.

This film is an incredible example of fly on the wall, cinema vérité storytelling. The filmmakers are seemingly there for every moment of the saga, from the absolute genesis of Kamp Katrina to its final throes. It's an intimate film that doesn't attempt to stray beyond its subject to a larger commentary on the untold political failures surrounding Katrina. It stays on point and invests every ounce of its energy on detailing protagonist Ms. Pearl's attempt to save some of her fellow citizens from abject poverty and homelessness.

With Kamp Katrina, David Redmon and Ashley Sabin have created a film more real and honest than one would expect from a very personal story set in the bowels of tragedy. If you really want a taste of how difficult life was in post-Katrina New Orleans, you're going to find no better telling.